The present invention is in the technical field of electronic devices and associated software for the display of information with additional user-interactivity.
On the one hand, prior art in the field of information presentation (kiosk′) systems consists of devices for the presentation of content that is either stored locally or contributed by a network. Such one-directional systems deliver a ‘playlist’ of information content typically embedding audio & video clips, potentially overlaid with text messages and/or other graphical elements. The presented content at any given time can be dependent on a priori known attributes such as the time of day, and/or the location of the system. However there is no user-individualized content nor do these systems allow for user interaction to influence the presented content.
On the other hand, interactive touch-based systems have been introduced. These systems utilize either proprietary large-screen/area touch technology, or re-use consumer touch technology developed for mobile devices, typically for tablets. The information is displayed on the tablet screen, or projection surface, and the user can interact by way of touch gestures, typically by ‘tapping’ on certain regions that will trigger the display of specific content. When using tablets, the content is displayed on the tablet screen itself and therefore the small screen size limits operation of the device to one user at a time. These systems require the user to ‘walk up’ to the display or projection surface, and require him to actively engage with it using hand movements. In many scenarios users are rather disinterested, limiting the utility of these systems to applications with high user engagement.
All foregoing systems suffer from one or more of the following: a lack of interactivity (i.e. the user is not able to influence the content presented); a lack of an immersive user experience (e.g., using a small screen such as the phone's built-in display); unable to offer a concurrent multi-user experience; require a user's active engagement; or do not present an individual user-targeted experience.